Week in the Life: Wednesday

Thursday, October 22, 2015

photos taken: 52

It's Brandon's birthday! I came downstairs and started the coffee only to nearly break my neck from slipping on water all over the middle of the floor. The freezer had some sort of malfunction in the middle of the night that water was running all through it (whhhhhhhy), but seemed to be fine again now with the exception of the water on the floor and giant blocks of now-frozen ice all over the contents of the freezer. I threw two bath towels over the spills and ignored it until after breakfast, because: coffee first.

The two big kids woke up in time to sing 'happy birthday dear Daddy!' as he blew out a candle on one of our chocolate chip icing sandwich cookies before hustling out the door to the grand opening of the store he's been working on (which hopefully means no more super late nights! hooray for us all!)

Lainey bug arrived for another playday with us and Grey came clean about having a splinter in his hand from the playground at school the day before. This kid hates splinters, no, not the actual splinter, rather the removal of the splinter. hates, hates, hates. So it was a solid forty minutes of crying and fussing about the thought that removing the splinter would be painful. that's a lot of patience from a mumma at 7am in the morning.

After several half-attempts both by Grey himself and me, we settled on neosporin and a band-aid until the afternoon when we would have more time (and patience!) Then he dried his crocodile tears, got a few hugs and he was off to school. whew, I was all like, please tell me it's after 9am at least. um, no. So the girls and I got breakfast, got ready for the day, and started tackling chores and playtime. The girls were playing so nicely that I got a chance to sneak in a hot (super quick!) shower and it's amazing what clean hair, fresh lipstick, and a dance party while folding clothes can do for a person's psyche!

By lunch, we were all feeling a little sleepy, so after some pizza and peaches, Miss Violet girl gave Lola a few good (spirited) pets and she was off to sleep before I even closed her bedroom door. Lainey wasn't too far behind and was happy to cozy up with Gemma on the couch in front of a movie (not Mulan today only because I pleaded with her. I can not have the song, "A girl worth fighting for stuck in my head one more afternoon"!)

I got a a minute to chat with the birthday boy on his way in between stores. Sometimes, a call from him in the middle of the day can really put a pep in my step. You don't know how lonesome you are until you hear someone voice sometimes, ya know?

During naptime, I switched the laundry and worked on the blog with a cup of tea (happiness boost!) and then the girls started stirring again - anxious to play and enjoy the sun. So out we went to run amok in the yard and enjoy the trampoline.

Gemma was happy to discover that Lainey had brought a Doc McStuffin's singing microphone ("a singer") with her and she played that thing on repeat for a solid twenty-five minutes. She is a lip-syncing maniac and loves moving her mouth in very dramatic ways even if it's not at all close to the words of any song - she just like the theater of it all. She's also been doing a lot of talking about her 'claws' (fingers in the bent position) which is so weird and cute.

Cara swung by after school to grab Lainey bug and then we only had time enough to read one Halloween book and feed Lola before it was time to pick up Grey from the bus stop!

On the way to pick up Grey, our afternoon plans took a dive for the unexpected. A call from Pappy that he was headed to an unplanned dentist visit (all is well now!) meant that Brandon and I had to split up between the kids' practices. I also realized among the countertops of dirty dishes that I didn't have another cream cheese for Brandon's birthday cheesecake, Greyson's fundraising orders needed picked up from the school before six, and that also, ugh, it was garbage night.

Brandon was on his way home from work and saved the day by swinging by Dollar General to pick up milk and cream cheese, stopped at the school to grab our fundraising items before coming home to pack up the garbage and take Gemmi to gymnastics at 5:30p. Defeated I said, "some birthday, babe, I'm sorry," to which he replied, "the roast smells awesome, you're making cheesecake, and I'm home before dark, this is the best birthday ever."

As he and Gem headed out the door, I whipped around the kitchen like a certified lunatic, washing dishes, loading the dishwasher, and throwing together the cheesecake knowing that I needed to time it exactly so that it could bake while we were at karate practice (gulp, risk-taker over here). I put some snacks for Violet in the diaper bag and threw the cheesecake in the oven right before we walked out the door.

On the way to karate class, Grey was talking about getting a girlfriend when he gets to college. I asked him what he thought girlfriends and boyfriends even do together and he said, "I don't know. Like sit on the couch together?" then after a few thoughtful seconds, "maybe the boy just has to do whatever the girl says?" I laughed and said, like what kinds of things does the girlfriend say? and he said, "Maybe like, Pause this movie because I have to poop!" to which I laughed until I cried because that's the very last thing a girlfriend would say to her boyfriend and also, boy did I need a good laugh at exactly that moment.

At karate, Gigi met us to hand off Grey's clothes and equipment to us and offered (like a total professional Grandma) to take Violet during class so I could have some peace. Sweet Lord, thank you for Gigi. I got to watch Grey all during class without the whines and tugs of a curious and bored one year old. Hallelujah, for real.

Success! We got home in time to pull the cheese cake out and it was just fine. Pappy, Gigi, and Violet showed up a few minutes after us, just as I was reaching into the pantry for some instant mashed potatoes to whip up and lo and behold, guess who was out. This chick. Yeesh, Momma said there'd be day like this, there'd be days like this, Momma said (sometimes the need to break out into song is too strong to deny).

So, I got to peeling, boiling, and mashing potatoes from scratch, and finishing the rest of dinner: three- packet slow cooker roast, steamed veggies, mashed potatoes (!the real kind, not by choice), and rolls. We had cheesecake for dessert (B's favorite) and sung happy birthday while we laughed and talked around the table and the kids played under the table their strange spy kid games of make believe. Gosh, do I love those kind of dinners that nobody feels like getting up and being done. I hardly took any pictures at dinner because I was too busy participating and enjoying dinner (!) but I caught a few blurry ones of the big birthday singing.

By the time we had said goodbye to Gigi and Pappy, cleaned up the kitchen, and got the kids settled into bed, it was after 9:30p! I read Grey's book he brought home from school and Gem was asleep before I even finished that. Grey announced promptly afterward, "Mum, please be quiet now, I'm tired." He did ask for me to read aloud a little from my book, so I got myself settled on the floor to read a few pages.

Then I kept nodding off mid-sentence (!) and barely made it downstairs to snuggle up with Brandon on the couch while he watched the Cubs/Mets game. I fell asleep I think in under two minutes and he woke me up afterwards and helped usher me up to bed where we both basically fell face first and didn't wake up until the morning. #parenthood